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Ceasar Peinado Professor O’Hara WRT 101 4 April 2013 Stop! Don't Touch me!

Over the past 20 years, America has grown stronger and become a very successful and growing country. This country is not perfect, but it sure is strong. But even a strong country has its problems. In the United States, one of the biggest problems we have, and still are facing is sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is may not seem like a big dilemma but eventually it can lead to more serious problems like rape and even death. Nevertheless, there are ways to prevent such tragic things by strongly enforcing sexual harassment laws, change and increase consequences, and working as a community. Harassment was not always seen as a big deal. As a matter of fact, many people to this day believe that charges have decreased. But in reality, offenses are increasing and many are not being properly taken care of. “You would think that if policies and training were terribly effective … you would have seen dramatic change,” says Joanna Grossman, a professor at Hofstra Law School in Hempstead, N.Y., specializing

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in sex discrimination. Also, from the years 1997 to now, not much has changed (refer to picture on second page). Enforcing these laws and making sure to crack down on these events are key to changing this problem. In certain places, a warning is just given to the person to do such an offense; an idiotic way to handle that situation. If ever in a work environment and such things were to happen being fired, paying money, and going to prison should be the least of the worries. Harassment is no laughing matter therefore it should not be taken as a joke. May sound a bit of exaggerative, but the pain is not known until it happens to oneself. Just recently, cracking down on these events have gotten better, but there is always more that can change, more to clean up, and to stabilize. “Employers have gotten more harsh about how they deal with it,” said Laura Schnell, a New York attorney who has represented employees in sexual harassment cases since 1985. “If they can verify that something happened, they do fire people.” As mentioned before, some of the consequences that are given out now are taken to lightly, therefore the consequences should raised to the point as if harassment is seen as murder if not worse. Although, there are many factors on why a predator might target a certain someone for harassment. It could be from being attracted to them and wanting to have a sexual relation with them or as simple as being seen as an easy

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or easily taken advantage of. But no matter the true extent of sexual harassment, its consequences are unresolved. Studies clearly show that women and men who experience frequent sexual harassment have higher levels of depression, and that the impact may be long­term (Mantel). Raising aware of the consequences is also excruciatingly important. Making sure predators know that a world of trouble is in store if decided to cause harm and harass someone is going to make a difference. Putting up posters and even letting friends and family know makes a huge difference. Now a days, even posting something via social